Cultured human gallbladder epithelia. Methods and partial characterization of a carcinoma-derived model.

Background: Gallstone disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in humans. Despite extensive research into the physiology of the gallbladder, little is known about mucosal events that precede and contribute to stone formation. Here, we describe and partially characterize a cultured epithelial model of human gallbladder mucosa.

Experimental Design: Cells originally obtained from a well-differentiated gallbladder mucosal carcinoma were cultured in modified Eagle's minimum media (supplemented with fetal calf serum and antibiotics) on polycarbonate supporting matrices.

Results: Cell cultures were observed to come to confluence with 6 to 9 days. Light and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated the resultant epithelia to be predominantly one cell thick, to be polar in orientation, and to have apical villi. Epithelia exhibited cytokeratin markers consistent with their epithelia origin, functionally acidified the mucosal bathing solutions, and secreted mucin. Further experiments demonstrated transepithelial potential differences, mucosal-to-serosal transfer of sodium which could be inhibited with amiloride and 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2-2'-disulfonic acid, and paracellular movement of neutral molecular probes inversely related to size.

Conclusions: This culture model of human gallbladder mucosal carcinoma cells exhibits parameters consistent with native gallbladder and may offer a convenient new research tool for the study of the pathophysiology of gallstone formation.